MAGNOLIA SPRINGS - The Magnolia Springs town council has reopened the town docks, and is now looking towards a safe reopening of other town facilities.

Currently, the Magnolia Springs Town Library plans to remain closed until at least June 1. An exact opening date will be announced at a later date.

“The library staff and volunteers are getting info on the proper cleaning of the library and the books, and we’re trying to work out the best approach to reopen,” said Mayor Kim Koniar. “I’ve ordered a sneeze guard to be delivered to Town Hall for our town clerk, but our library is such a small building that the staff aren’t sure what the best plan of action would be for them yet.”

Town Hall has the new addition of a drop box outside where citizens are able to drop off documents, permits, and payments for the town clerk to check daily. Otherwise, town business is being conducted by email and phone and has not slowed during the pandemic. Council discussed reopening Town Hall to the public once the safeguard had been installed, but social distancing orders will still be in place, along with a mask requirement.

“Even cloth masks would be better than having people who are asymptomatic and carrying the virus with them come in unprotected, cloth masks would be better than nothing,” said councilmember Nick Shields. “I think opening should be considered with protective equipment available for our employees and some knowledge of the extend of the virus in Baldwin County. The county does not have sufficient swab testing and analysis, so it’s not a hopeful sign that our numbers are low, our numbers may be low because we don’t have any testing ability.”

A concern for the council is restarting board meetings, in particular the planning commission. No meetings have been held since the start of the pandemic other than town council meetings, but going forward the council stated it was important to get board meetings started again.

Council has received permission to use the Magnolia Springs Community Association to host future meetings that require a larger meeting space, and have also discussed the possibility of holding meetings outside if necessary.

“I think it boils down to everybody’s comfort level,” said councilmember Marley Gardner. “We could pick certain board meetings back up and make some requirements for those who attend, like you have to wear a mask. It just comes down to everybody’s safety.”

While Town Hall and the town library remain closed, council is looking for June 1 to potentially reopen the facilities and schedule dates for board meetings. To keep up with reopening news, check out https://www.townofmagnoliasprings.org/.